Najaf siege end in sight

MILITIAMEN loyal to rebel Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr removed their weapons from the revered Imam Ali Shrine in Najaf yesterday as a two-week-old uprising centred on the holy site appeared to be drawing to an end.

MILITIAMEN loyal to rebel Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr removed their weapons from the revered Imam Ali Shrine in Najaf yesterday as a two-week-old uprising centred on the holy site appeared to be drawing to an end.

Militants from al-Sadr's Mahdi Army had been using the shrine, one of the holiest in Shiite Islam, as a hideout while they attacked US and Iraqi forces in the city.

Earlier yesterday, they offered to give control of the shrine to Shiite religious authorities, who accepted the offer in principle.

But by yesterday evening, militants had withdrawn all their weapons from the shrine compound, where civilians and unarmed militia members mingled in peace.

Interior Ministry spokesman Sabah Kadhim said police entered the shrine and arrested 400 armed militants without incident. However, reporters who were inside the shrine throughout the afternoon said not a single police officer entered the compound and no arrests were made.

The surprising pullback came as it seemed more and more likely that there would be a massive government raid into the shrine - certain to cause bloodshed and infuriate Shiites across Iraq.

Iraqi interim Prime Minister Ayad Allawi had issued a "final call" to al-Sadr to disarm his followers and pull them from the shrine.

Explosions and gunfire rang throughout the city during the night, killing 77 people and injured 70 others, the Health Ministry reported.

But by yesterday morning, the city was quiet, and Allawi stepped back from his government's threats to raid the mosque.

"We are not going to attack the mosque, we are not going to attack Muqtada al-Sadr and the mosque, evidently we are not going to do this," Allawi said.

"We are not going to attack the shrines at all.

"We have extended the olive branch, the olive branch is still extended, he can take advantage of the olive branch. We want a peaceful solution."

In a sermon read on his behalf in the nearby Kufa Mosque, al-Sadr said he wanted the religious authorities to take control of the Old City from his Mahdi Army, though he also called on all Muslims to rise up if the shrine is attacked.

"I call on the Arab and Islamic people: If you see the dome of the holy Imam Ali Shrine shelled, don't be lax in resisting the occupier in your countries," he said.

It was unclear if al-Sadr was calling for worldwide attacks on US forces - which he often refers to as Iraq's occupier.

Al-Sadr aide Ahmed al-Shaibany said he was offering the keys to the shrine to Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, Iraq's top Shiite Muslim cleric, who is in London where he received medical treatment.

"We don't want to appease the government... we want to appease the Iraqi people," he said.

Aides to al-Sistani agreed to take over the holy site.

"We told al-Sadr's office that if they want to hand over the keys (to the shrine) to the Shiite religious leadership, then the religious leadership will welcome this in order to defuse the crisis," Sheik Hamed Khafaf, an al-Sistani aide, said from London. He added that they needed to discuss how that would happen.

By yesterday morning, the shrine compound, which had been filled with hundreds of chanting and bellicose gunmen in recent days, appeared far calmer. Far fewer people were inside and no armed men could be seen.

US forces said they were still geared up for a fight.

"We are continuing to do planning and preparations for continuous offensive operations to get Mahdi militia destroyed, to capture Muqtada al-Sadr and to turn the holy shrine back to the Iraqi people," said Lieutenant Colonel Myles Miyamasu.